Category Archives: Dragon

CHERRY BLOSSOM TIME – Takeshi Kaneshiro

This week on One Cell One Light Radio, Dr. Hildy and Film Producer, Veronica Hendricks, celebrate Cherry Blossom season in Japan, the time of year when the the sakura and other trees blossom breathtakingly.

As spring approaches, the entire nation turns a shade of pink. Months before they arrive, retailers switch into sakura mode – supermarkets filled with plastic cherry blossom flowers and cherry blossom-flavored foods and beverages. The beautiful trees are a common subject of artists and painters, and are a source of great pride for the island nation.

When the blooms arrive (as confirmed by teams of meticulous cherry blossom officials), it is time to indulge in one of the nation’s all-time favourite pastimes – hanami, which literally translates as “looking as flowers” and refers to flower appreciation picnics under the blooms.

But the cherry blossoms aren’t all Japan is prideful about. There are also the moves of Takeshi Kaneshiro, one of Japan’s most popular actors. Despite being effortlessly good-looking, he chooses to strike a sometimes uneasy balance between the commercially pleasing and the quirky in his choice of film roles. Takeshi, sometimes called the Japanese Johnny Depp, has appeared in more than 50 films, though American audiences would know him best from his role as “Jin” in director Yimou Zhang’s (Hero, Raise the Red Lantern) 2004 film House of Flying Daggers. Kaneshiro is also an accomplished singer, having released 9 albums in Japan in both Mandarin and Cantonese.

Join Dr. Hildy and Veronica this week as they discusses Japan’s culture and beauty on One Cell One Light Radio!

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Early life – Takeshi Kaneshiro

Takeshi Kaneshiro’s mother is Taiwanese and his father is from Okinawa, Japan.[1][2]He was born and raised in Taipei but also holds Japanese citizenship.[3][4]

The son of a Japanese businessman and a Taiwanese homemaker,[5] he has two elder brothers; one is his senior by seven years, the other just by one.[6] After graduating from Taipei Japanese Junior High School, he enrolled at English-based Taipei American School, which enabled him to converse in English. While he was studying there, he began doing television commercials and decided to quit school to pursue a singing and acting career. He is multilingual, fluent in Mandarin, Chinese Hokkien, Japanese, and to lesser degrees in Cantonese and English.